asked the Minister of Supply why his form of contract for the manufacture of pick-axes for the War Office specifies that they shall be protected with corrugated paper and tied in two layers of unproofed hessian.

This packing is used to prevent damage to other stores with which the pick-axes are subsequently packed when they are despatched from War Office stores, but in view of the present shortage of materials I am considering whether this specification can be relaxed.